Educating the AI Generation

"I'll make sure you fail if I detect that you're using AI to complete your assignments."

Like many other professors, I believe I have the right to establish this policy in my class. Academic freedom gives us the ability to shape our classrooms, and it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve restricted certain technologies. I like to start with the 90s... Walkmans, pagers, scientific calculators, laptops, cell phones and now AI.

But here’s the thing. Banning AI isn’t going to help us educate this current generation of students, nor the next.

Sure, banning it lets you get through the semester on your own terms. It might even feel good to uphold traditional learning methods and honor the educators who've shaped us. After all, what’s an essay worth if it’s magically written by AI in seconds?

But that’s just passing the buck, if you think about it. Students will still use AI in the next class, with the next instructor who’s more “open-minded” or “relevant.” They’re using it throughout their daily lives anyway, so what’s the point of telling them it’s not okay in our class? Are we really that special?

As educators today, we need to understand AI and keep pace with its rapid evolution. We have to see how these tools are changing the way we process information, so we can evolve the manner in which we educate. It’s still our job to teach them.

We just can’t be monolithic teachers at the whiteboard anymore. That’s not going to work.

We’re both EDUCATORS and TECHNOLOGISTS now. We have to keep learning in order to teach. We need to bring technology into our classrooms and integrate it into the learning process. Otherwise, we risk failing ourselves and the very students we’ve set out to educate.

Remember that technology and learning don’t have to wreak havoc on each other. In fact, if we orchestrate them well, they’ll complement each other in ways we haven’t yet imagined.